


Beginning To Nowhere & Onett Inbetween

by Suzukipot



Category: Mother 3, Mother : EarthBound Zero
Genre: Blood and Injury, Canonical Character Death, Comedy, Gen, Headcanon, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-07
Updated: 2016-03-09
Packaged: 2018-05-25 09:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6188623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Suzukipot/pseuds/Suzukipot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the brothers from other Mothers all have small stories written about them. </p><p>This was a collaborative effort with one of my friends, who was essentially my Beta Reader for these.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sunflowers

Lucas fell face first into a field of sunflowers. The comforting petals caught him, smothered him in their sweet smell. Lucas grinned and sighed contently. From behind him, Claus sighed and crossed his arms. 

“Are you done yet?”

Lucas flipped over to his back and looked up at his older twin brother. Claus’s eyes were wet and his nose was red. He sniffled. 

“You know I’m allergic to sunflowers,” he reminded Lucas a little too harshly. 

Lucas stood and brushed pollen off of himself the best that he could. “Sorry Claus. I just...they’re so pretty, you know?”

Claus just sniffled again, his impatience growing. Lucas plucked the tallest sunflower he could find before turning back to his twin. 

“Okay, we can go now.”

Claus darted through the large field, back to Tazmily and eventually reached the house, Lucas following behind closely. Claus opened the door and took a giant step inside to alert the family of their presence, even though Hinawa probably would have noticed them without the loud indicator anyway. 

“Hey mom, we’re back,” Claus announced, his allergies clearing up. 

Hinawa looked up from the pan of omelettes she was cooking. The boys had left so early that she hadn’t even had time to cook them breakfast. “Welcome back, you two.” Hinawa smiled warmly before she caught attention to the fact that Lucas’s hands were behind his back and he was covered in pollen. 

“Lucas...were you out in the sunflower field again?”

Lucas nodded once before pulling out the giant sunflower from behind his back. “I...I got it to replace the one in the kitchen.”

Hinawa gently took the sunflower and grabbed the old, withered one that was in the vase next to the window before putting the new one in. 

“Alright boys, eat up quickly. We have to get going to Grandpa Alec’s soon.” Hinawa gave both boys their omelettes. 

“Is dad not coming to Grandpa Alec’s,” Claus asked, pouring a generous amount of ketchup on his omelettes. 

Hinawa shook her head. “Oh, no. He has to stay here and tend to the sheep.” 

“Awwww,” Claus complained, pouting a bit. 

Claus always asked, every time, if Flint was going to come to Alec’s too and every time he always got the same answer. Lucas shrugged indifferently. He didn’t really care if his dad went with them or not. He particularly enjoyed when he, his mom and Claus took the walk through the mountains to his Grandpa Alec’s. There were an assortment of weird plants that Lucas couldn’t see in Tazmily, including one his grandpa affectionately called ‘popping corn’ (which Lucas quickly discovered could be put in front of the hearth and ‘popped’ into a decently tasty snack.) 

While Lucas explored the plants, Claus always played with the Dragos, a group of friendly dinosaurs who’d recently had a baby. As they finished up their breakfast (Lucas helped Hinawa clean up the plates) Claus rushed outside, eager to go.

Lucas and Hinawa followed and the three made way out of Tazmily and through the mountains. It was a long, treacherous walk, but Lucas thought it was worth it to see his Grandpa Alec. As Claus got to the top, he looked over the mountain’s side at the sights below. Way in the distance was Tazmily village. Claus could also see the sunflower field, more noticeable with it’s popping yellow color. 

Lucas joined him and the two took a small moment to admire the scenery. From behind them a screen door flapped shut and an old but strong voiced shouted with joy. 

“What are you two doing on the edge of that mountain?! Come give your Grandpa a hug!”

Lucas and Claus turned around to see their grandpa, Alec. They ran to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. He chuckled and hugged them back before looking up at Hinawa. 

“Nice ta see ya again, Hinawa.”

“You too, dad. It's been...what, almost a year now?” For residents of Tazmily, a year of not seeing each other might as well have been an entire eternity. 

Alec gave a light-hearted chuckle. “Yeah...sometimes I wish there was an easier way to get here...but this mountain’s perfect for my farm.” 

As if to drive the point home, one of the sheep bleated contently. 

Hinawa waved her hand dismissively as Claus looked at her. “Mom, can I go play with the Dragos?” 

Hinawa giggled. Claus never did seem to run out of energy. “Claus….we just got here. Don’t you want to go rest?” 

Claus shrugged but he caught on to his mom’s drift and walked inside Alec’s house. Lucas followed suit before he went up the stairs. 

“You're going to bed already,” Claus asked. 

“The hike up the mountain took a lot out of me,” Lucas countered, shrugging and going back up the steps. 

Alec had two bedrooms, one for himself and one specifically for both twins when they came over to visit. Lucas walked into the room. It looked exactly the same as when they’d left. Nothing had been moved. Lucas walked over some toys (almost tripping over the toy box) before he got the the window. Outside was a beautiful view of Alec’s backyard, the lush green fields rolling and animals grazing the grass. 

Lucas went to rest his elbow on the sill as something blocked his way. He looked down at a vase with a dead, wilted sunflower resting in muddy water. He frowned a bit. Lucas hated seeing dead sunflowers in the house, it was why he’d always went out to the sunflower field at least once a week, despite Claus’s complaining. Lucas motioned to pick the vase up but something stopped him. 

For some reason, he couldn’t throw the sunflowers out, no matter how lifeless they were. He just stared at it, trying to find...something to like. Thinking he was just exhausted, Lucas shook his head and dragged himself to bed. 

It was the yell of a loud-mouthed ginger that had woken Lucas up. 

“How long’re you gonna sleep,” Claus yelled from downstairs. “Get up! I wanna go see the Dragos!” It was followed by a few loud thumps and a door slam. 

Lucas silently groaned and rolled around in bed. Was it the next morning already? Had he really slept through the rest of the day and the entire night? Regardless, Lucas got up and stumbled to the dresser before getting dressed and brushing his hair to perfection. Then he walked downstairs to see his mom sitting at the kitchen table, holding a cup of tea. 

“Good morning, Mr. Sleepyhead Lucas,” Hinawa giggled, smiling brightly. 

Lucas smiled too and greeted his mom, telling her he’d be back in a while before going outside. Alec sat on a rocking chair next to the front door. A chicken clucked, catching Lucas’s attention. Lucas sort of cringed. For some reason, he could understand animals when they talked. 

It sort of made him queasy, especially when he heard chickens, knowing that his favorite food was essentially their babies covered in ketchup. Despite being a vegetarian, Lucas couldn’t find himself giving up omelettes. They were just...too good. So he always walked up to the chickens and offered them a heartfelt apology while petting them. It garnered weird looks from Claus and his dad but Lucas didn’t care. 

Lucas said a quick goodbye to Alec before setting off for Claus and the Dragos preferred playing spot. He found Claus, the two adult Dragos, and their baby. Claus was ramming into the mom Drago while the dad slept next to the baby, his tail curled around him lovingly. 

“Arrrrgh! Come on, come on,” Claus said, pushing against the Drago’s leg futily. 

The Drago, humoring him, fell limp to her side. 

Claus stood up straight and tried to catch his breath. “Haha, I did it!” He looked over at Lucas. “Oh. Hey, Lucas. Wanna play?”

“Uh...sure,” Lucas nodded before backing up a bit and ramming into the Drago. 

The Drago fell to her side before picking herself back up again. Lucas and Claus took turns playing with the Drago’s until they both collapsed on the ground from exhaustion. Minutes passed before Hinawa walked up to them. 

“Boys, I made lunch!”

“Lunch,” Claus exclaimed before bolting up and running back to the house. 

Lucas stood up as well and walked back to the house. He wiped his feet on the welcome mat and dusted the dirt off of his shirt as best as he could before he walked in and took a seat next to Claus. They ate, Claus making more of a mess of himself than he already was as Hinawa started to prep a letter. 

“Is that a letter to dad,” Lucas asked as he wiped his mouth. 

Hinawa only nodded before excusing herself and rolling up the letter. She went to the porch, reread the letter to herself then gently picked up a carrier pigeon and tied the letter to its foot before releasing in the wind. As she looked up she could hear the faintest music coming from some...large looking thing floating in the sky. It looked like it was heading for Tazmily. Hinawa watched it until it got out of view then went back in the house. 

***

A triumphant trumpet tune blasted through the mini speakers on the Pigmask Soldiers belt. He looked at his counterpart, who quickly bent down and opened a box, releasing red, fly-like bugs in the forest. The other Pigmask Soldier did the same before the both of them ran out of there, 

Flint said his goodbyes to the woman at the bazaar before he made his way home. He had gone there for a few drinks with Lighter, one of his neighbors and friends, but he’d never shown up and Flint found himself drinking alone. He silently wondered if Hinawa and the kids had left for Alec’s yet and when he opened the door to the house and wasn’t immediately hugged by two small identical bodies and given a peck on his cheek by his lovely wife, he knew they’d left. Flint gave an inward sigh and sat down at the kitchen table. While the peace and quiet was relaxing, it was jarring and odd as well. 

Claus and Lucas were a handful, but having them gone made the house feel...cold and empty. Flint shuddered. Suddenly, a loud knock made his head shoot up. The knocking sound happened a few more times until Flint got up to get it. 

“Flint! Flint! Flint,” a familiar voice shouted frantically. It was Thomas, the bazaar’s owner. “You gotta do something, quick! Flint! The forest is on fire!” 

Flint rushed to the door and threw it open and both he and Thomas rushed off to the forest. Indeed, the whole thing was ablaze. The forest had never been plagued with fires before. Flint looked around and in the distance and could see a Pigmask standing with another one of those boxes. He opened it, releasing more fly-like bugs into the smoky air. 

He ran off into the fiery walls of the forest. Flint looked towards the flies direction. Were those...Pig-like men causing these fires? Near the flies laid a familiar face, on the ground. Flint ran up to him. 

It was Lighter. “Flint...Thomas...dammit. These flies,” he coughed. “I keep trying to swat them...but they keep coming back!”

Flint looked at the flies buzzing around near them. 

“N-Nevermind that though...It’s Fuel, Flint. Fuel’s...Fuel’s still at home.”

“What,” Thomas exclaimed. “Fuel’s still at your shack? Flint, you go get Fuel. I’ll help out Lighter.”

Flint nodded and quickly set off to Lighter’s shack. It was deeper in Tazmily, sort of on the outskirts. As Flint made his way up he looked at the shack. It was on fire, almost burnt to a crisp. Next to the door a frog had retreated into a barrel full of water just to stay out of the intense heat.

Flint almost made way to open the door but after seeing the metal doorknob, he stopped.

“Help,” cried a shrill voice. Flint looked up and saw Fuel, waving out of the window to Flint desperately. 

Tipping his hat, Flint backed up and rammed into the door with his shoulder. The door burst into pieces and Flint quickly made his way upstairs. Fuel was there, whimpering, his foot trapped under a piece of wood from the ceiling. Flint quickly made his way to him, pushing the wood off of Fuel’s trapped foot and picking him up. 

“Mr. Flint,” Fuel sniffled. 

Fuel tried to say something else but Flint picked him up and rushed out of the house. As they got out the house fell to pieces. Soot covered both of them and Flint set Fuel down. 

“Wah,” Fuel whinged. “I’m pitch black and covered in soot...but I’m alive!” He smiled. 

Flint smiled too and both of them walked back to Lighter. Abbot told them that Thomas took Lighter to the Prayer Sanctuary so the two walked there. Lighter was on a cot, bandaged from head to toe, a group of people surrounding him. 

“Dad,” Fuel called out before running to his side. 

Lighter’s closed eyes flickered before he weakly spoke. “ Fuel…? Flint...Flint...thank you. Thank you for saving Fuel…”

“Dad...are you okay? You look like you busted your leg.”

Lighter gave a small smile. “I’ll be fine, Fuel.” He looked at Flint. “Flint, I owe you for today.”

Flint nodded and smiled, tipping his hat. Suddenly, a flash of thunder cracked along the sky and it started pouring rain. The rain slowly washed the soot off of Flint and Fuel. Thomas looked up and smiled.

“Hey...maybe this rain’s just the thing to put the fire out.” 

“We still need to tend to Lighter. Let’s take him back to the Inn.”

Flint helped carry one side of Lighter’s cot back to the Yado Inn and when he set Lighter down, then he collapsed in the chair next to his bed. Tessie, one of the nurses, walked up to him and started to tend to his wounds. 

“There you are Flint. You’re all patched up, now.” She gave him a warm smile as she went to put the gauze and bandage away. 

“Sure is good you and Fuel only suffered light injuries,” Thomas said. 

Flint nodded and silence filled the room. They could all hear the rain hitting the wooden roof. 

“It’s been awhile since Tazmily’s had rain,” Tessie pointed out. She looked at Flint, who looked absolutely exhausted, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. “Flint...you should get some rest. Stay here tonight, no charge.”

Flint opened his mouth to protest, to say that he didn’t want to impede on his host’s hospitality but Tessie’s look told him to just shut up and take the offer. So he did. Flint lumbered out of Lighter’s room and went to the one next door. It was empty so he walked over to the bed and collapsed into it. Within minutes, he was asleep, his snores filling the tiny inn. 

Today had been a long day. 

***

Lucas and Claus were both laying down in their beds, staring at the ceiling. Lucas’s hands were folded on his chest as he listened to his heartbeat, trying to lull himself to sleep with it. 

“Hey, Luke?”

“Yes,” Lucas asked, looking at Claus. 

“I was just wonderin’...why do you still have that old, dead sunflower in here?”

“Oh! I’m sorry Claus. Is it making your allergies act up? I can throw it away now if you want.”

Claus chuckled. Lucas’s concern over him was annoying most of the time but also rather endearing. “No, no, I’m fine. I just want to know why you have it. It’s not any good anymore. It’s dead.”

Lucas opened his mouth to say something but he couldn’t find the words to describe exactly why he still had the sunflower. Claus was right, it was dead and useless. He had absolutely no reason to keep it. Lucas clutched his blanket before he bit his lip, thinking. Maybe...maybe he was keeping the sunflower because he couldn’t bring himself to throw it out.

He couldn’t tell Claus that though. Claus wouldn’t understand. Claus never understood Lucas’s weird emotions. 

Claus turned to his side and looked Lucas in the eye. “Don’t tell me you can’t bring yourself to throw it out?”

Okay, maybe Claus did know Lucas better than he thought. Lucas huffed before turning to his side, away from Claus. 

“Claus?”

“Yeah?”

“Please be quiet and go to bed.”

Claus giggled before shutting his eyes. “Alright, bossy.”

***

“Are you three sure you’ll be fine,” Alec asked for about the hundredth time as Hinawa held Lucas and Claus’s hands. 

Hinawa nodded. “Yes dad, I’m sure. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine.” 

Alec nodded, still a little unsure. “Alright...I’ll see you guys again soon.” He patted Claus’s head.

As the three made their way back down the mountain Claus started to whinge. 

“Mooom! You don’t have to hold my hand! I know how to get back to the village.”

“Claus, going down the mountain is more dangerous than going up it. You might fall and get hurt.”

Claus huffed when suddenly, a large oak tree fell in front of the path. It was followed by a loud, ear piercing roar. Something shook the ground and, if it weren’t for his mom holding his hand, Lucas would have fallen. A Drago, parts of it’s face missing and covered in metal looked at the three. It’s eyes were blood red and glossy. 

Hinawa froze and instinctively motioned for the twins to get behind her. The Drago opened it’s mouth, showing off its large fangs dripping in drool as it slowly moved closer, so as to not scare them away. Lucas whimpered and clutched the back of Hinawa’s dress. He’d never seen a Drago act this way before… The tree in front of them blocked the only exit that they had and the Drago was so giant that it made backtracking to Alec’s impossible so they were essentially trapped. 

Suddenly, the Drago lunged, shrieking at the three. Lucas shut his eyes tightly and kept clutching to the back of Hinawa’s dress. 

“Mom...w-what’s happening,” Claus asked, an unusual note of panic in his voice. 

“Just stay behind me,” Hinawa ordered, putting her arms out to keep them behind her. 

The Drago lunged forward again and Lucas felt something lurch his mom back. Claus screamed and Lucas opened his eyes. 

His heart immediately jumped into his throat and he found himself immobile at the sight. Hinawa had one of the Drago’s fangs pierced through her heart. She looked shell shocked, like she wasn’t exactly sure what had happened. 

“Mom,” Claus wailed as Hinawa fell to her knees. 

The color drained from Hinawa’s face as blood streamed down the front of her chest. Her eyes determined, she looked at Lucas and whispered one word:

“Run.”

She collapsed, the fang piercing itself deeper in her chest. Before Lucas could fully grasp what was happening, Claus grabbed him by the hand and quickly jumped over the tree. Claus lost his shoe in the process, but it was the least of his worries right now. Both of them tumbled down the mountain, getting scraped and bruised until Lucas was suddenly submerged in water. Quickly realizing he’d tumbled into the river, Lucas popped his head up, getting a deep breath of air before he looked around frantically for Claus. 

When he found Claus he swam over to him and grabbed him by the hand. 

“Claus!”

“Lucas,” Claus squawked. Lucas let go of Claus’s hand as Claus swum over to him, clinging to him. 

Claus looked around, trying to see up far enough over the edge to see where exactly they were. Suddenly, Lucas could see Tessie kneeling down beside the riverbed and wetting washrags. 

“Tessie,” Claus yelled, waving his hands frantically. 

Tessie looked up. “Claus? Lucas? What are you two doing this far down the river?”

 

As the two swam near her, she quickly scooped them up. “Let’s dry you two off,” she said in her motherly, sweet tone before she threw two towels on Lucas and Claus. The twins shivered. Tessie led them a bit further away from the river and told them to sit down. 

“I'll be right back, don’t go anywhere.” Tessie ran off towards the village. 

Lucas shivered violently as a breeze of air silently washed over them. Claus was looking at the ground, bending his wet, not shoed foot. Lucas gripped his towel and looked at the ground as well. The memories of the last few hours suddenly started to flash in his mind. The Drago...his mom...falling into the river. 

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. His mom was dead. She’d been pierced in the heart by the Drago, the same Drago he and Claus had been playing with earlier. Tears suddenly flowed down his cheeks without him even realizing. He tried to breath but his voice was shaky and he choked on tears. 

His sobbing progressively got louder and it only subsided to quiet crying when Tessie came back with a few other people from the village. They built a fire to warm the kids up and stripped them of their clothes to put on the clothesline to dry. Tessie put her arms around them comfortingly, patting their backs and hushing to them gently. 

“Wait, kids, where's Hinawa,” Bronson asked. 

They stayed silent for a moment and Lucas glanced at Claus, who looked as equally teary-eyed as him. 

“We...we lost her.” When Lucas heard Claus’s voice, he knew he’d been crying too. 

“Lost her? What the hell does…,” Bronson sighed and ran a hand through his hair before he turned towards the mountain. “I’ll go find her. The rest of you, stay here with them.” Bronson started to climb up the mountain. 

Flint was worried beyond belief but he didn’t dare let it show on his face as both he and fellow Tazmillian Duster were running to where Lucas and Claus apparently were. The rain from earlier had let up considerably and the only remnants of it were the soft earth being squished into Flint’s boots. After seeing the Reconstructed Caribou he couldn’t imagine what Lucas and Claus had gotten into. He passed the clearing and immediately saw them sitting in front of the fire. Claus looked back first, then Lucas. 

Then both of them wrapped themselves around Flint’s leg, clutching it for dear life. Lucas burst out crying again and Flint wrapped his arms around both of them. 

“Flint, I made some Innit Tea. Please, have some. It'll warm you up,” Tessie offered. She looked at the others. “Everyone should go home and rest up-,” 

Suddenly, Bronson came running down the mountain. “Flint, Flint!” He ran to Flint and panted, catching his breath. Whatever he had to say was urgent. “Flint I...I don't know what to say...I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” 

Flint opened his mouth to say something but Bronson shook his head. 

“Never mind, I'll tell you the good news first. The good news is that I found this Drago fang.” He held up the Drago fang. It was large, about the size of a pocket knife and the tip was stained with blood. Flint took it. 

“The bad news...is where I found that Drago fang. It...was in Hinawa’s chest.”

Flint gaped. Sorrow and anger filled him at the same time and he looked down, balling his fist up. Then he dropped to his knees and cried out, slamming his fist into the dirt repeatedly. 

“Flint, just try to stay calm,” Bronson said. He’d never seen Flint this angry before. “Lucas and Claus are only here now because Hinawa risked her life for them.” 

Flint didn’t do anything, didn’t say anything. Tessie tried to approach him. “Flint…,” She tried to put a hand on his shoulder but he swatted it away and stood up. 

Flint turned away and looked at the fire. It was still burning intensely. He reached in and grabbed one of the burning logs. Using all of his strength he brought it down on the fire, making it scatter about a million different ways. Lucas yelped and jumped a bit. 

What was his dad doing? Flint turned back to Bronson, who backed up quite a ways. 

“Flint,” Abbot said, getting next to him, “please calm dow-” Abbot was shoved in the chest with the wood. He fell down hard. 

Tessie covered Lucas and Claus’s eyes as Bronson tried to grab the wood from Flint. 

“Flint, what’re you doing?! Claus and Lucas are watching!” 

Lucas cried into Tessie’s chest as Claus tried to peek at Flint. As he and Bronson struggled, Lighter came up from behind the two and hit Flint on the back of the head with a 2x4. Flint collapsed immediately. 

When they were dried off and dressed, Tessie told the twins that they could stay at the Inn until Flint got out of jail. Lucas shared his bed with Claus, something they hasn’t done in years and they had only stopped doing because Claus had forced him to sleep in his own bed. The next morning, Claus took an apple from the counter and a hand file from the Inn’s desk drawer and shoved the hand file through the side. It stuck out like a sore thumb but if luck was on his side then Bronson would be at Hinawa’s funeral, along with the rest of town. In fact, Lucas had already left for their mom’s funeral.

 

He was upset at Claus not going and even more upset at his suggestion that he tag along with Claus but he didn’t argue about it either. Claus walked through town and walked into the jail. Flint was laying on the floor, the Drago’s fang in his hand. He looked an absolute mess, there were bags under his eyes and he looked overall disoriented. He looked at Claus and sat up. 

“Dad,” Claus started in an unusually sweet voice. “It’s me, Claus.” He walked up to the cell’s bars and looked at Flint through them. Flint got up and looked back at Claus. 

Claus, his hand shaky, placed the apple on the bar’s ledge. “I...I’m gonna leave this apple here. The core may be hard but…,” he faltered and looked away, shutting his eyes tightly before he looked back at Flint. “The core might be too hard to eat, but be SURE you eat it!” 

Claus walked away. “I'm gonna get strong,” he whispered. “I'm gonna get so strong that even the Drago's won’t stand a chance against me. Dad...I…” Claus ran out the door and went back to the Inn. Not thinking, he grabbed the largest steak knife he could find and ran back to the mountain. 

Lucas was sat at Hinawa’s grave, hands covering his face. He was still sobbing, throat hoarse and cracking. The townspeople looked at him in pity. Alec stood next to him, head down. Flint lumbered his way up to the grave and stood behind Lucas silently. 

Lucas looked up at him. “D-Dad?” Lucas’s nose ran and he had to blink several times to see Flint clearly. “Dad...I-I thought you said anything could come true, as long as we prayed from the bottom of our hearts?!”

He burst out into loud sobs again and Alec had to pat him on the back to calm him down. “Mom...mom c-can’t even punish me anymore now...Why...Why us? I don’t want it like this.” 

Flint looked at Hinawa’s grave before quickly looking away. His eyes settled on Alec, who looked back at him. 

“Heh...long time, no see Flint.” He gave a sad smile. “I know I haven’t been in the village for a while and I wish I was here on better terms...but I had to come after I heard about Hinawa.” He looked at the gravestone and in a small voice said, “And after I had such a wonderful time with my grandkids...Flint...I’m so sorry…Wait...Flint? 

Where’s Claus? He isn’t with you?”

Flint shook his head. 

“Lucas told me he was going to see you but he never came back.” His eyes turned to Lucas, suddenly growing full of worry. “Lucas...do you know where Claus went?”

Lucas’s crying had subsided and he’d resorted to staring at the ground awkwardly, digging into the dirt a bit with his index finger. “No...I don’t know…” 

“Lucas,” Alec barked. “Don’t lie to me! Claus could be hurt or sick or God knows wha-”

“He went to fight the Drago,” Lucas yelled, standing up suddenly. “He wants to avenge mom!” 

“Ugh! Does Claus honestly think a knife can kill a Drago?! Lucas, why didn’t you stop him?!”

“He told me to go too but I...I wanted to see mom…” 

“So you just let him go,” Alec roared. “You’ll be the cause of your brother’s death!” 

The colour drained from Lucas’s face as he looked up at Alec. A sudden tension cam between the two as Lucas looked at his Grandpa. It was as if he had just uttered some sacred, forbidden words. 

“Ugh!” He ran away from the scene, crying all the way. 

Lucas didn’t know where to go so he ran to the first place he could think of, the sunflower field. He ran there, ran into the sunflowers he’d caressed himself in only a few days ago, expecting their comforting touch again. When he got there though, all he saw a burnt, crisp field. The sunflowers had been burned away in the forest fire and only a select few remained. Lucas’s eyes widened and he dropped to his knees, weakly slamming his fists into the ground. 

“What’s happening to us,” Lucas whispered. “Why is everything...why is everything…”

Lucas stood a few moments later. Deciding that he needed somewhere familiar, he walked into his house for the first time in days. He could still smell his mom’s scent in the kitchen. It was a distinct smell of the local fauna. Lucas could also smell the air from outside in the kitchen and...sheep wool. 

Obviously. His dad had been there. Claus didn’t seem to be back yet, but Lucas wasn’t particularly worried. He wanted to be alone anyway. He walked up to the kitchen window. 

There were misc. drawings Claus and Lucas had made when they were even smaller, all lovingly taped up to the wall. The curtain was drawn slightly and the sun was hanging in the sky, shining through the pane. On the sill was the vase and sunflower. Lucas took it and looked at it. It was starting to wilt and die. Lucas frowned. He didn’t want to see another sunflower die. 

“Maybe...Maybe I can plant it back in the field...maybe it’ll...grow and I can build the field again.”

It was a wish filled dream, nothing more than a fleeting hope. Remaking the entire sunflower field? Just from this single, almost dead sunflower? It was preposterous but Lucas was determined so he took the vase out to the field and carefully planted it in the center of the field. 

“Um...please, little sunflower...grow for me? Grow up big and strong and tell all the other sunflowers to grow up big and strong too.” 

He smiled and patted the soil lovingly before standing and leaving, leaving with his small hope’s and dreams rested in that sunflower.


	2. An Unsolicited Visit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ninten visits the new penguin exhibit.

The Mother’s Day newspaper had said that it would be a week before the new penguin exhibit would be up. Ninten, however, was not a very patient boy and he was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement. Minnie and Mimmie had repeatedly told him to calm down and to just wait but Ninten had promptly told them to ‘go suck an egg’ which the twins took as an opportunity to tattle on him. So now Ninten was grounded until next week and he was laying on his bed, groaning, irritated. 

“There’s nothing to do,” he whined, taking off his red baseball cap and placing it over his face. 

He couldn’t stand knowing it was mid-day and he was still inside. At any given chance Ninten would be outside, causing some sort of mayhem. It was why his neighbor, Wally, had grown to detest him. A man could only take so much of a thirteen year old boy taking his pitchfork, running around with it and screaming his head off about how he was ‘the Devil’s right hand man.’ Ninten put his hat back on and sat up, looking around.

On the floor of his room was a baseball, a plastic bat, a few baseball cards and his stuffed penguin toy his dad had gotten him. Ninten frowned. 

“Man, this is bogus! Why should I be grounded for a week when I didn’t do anything wrong?” He huffed, pouting. “Minnie and Mimmie are such tattletales.” 

There was a knock at the door. Ninten got up and opened it. Minnie stood there, holding a plate of prime-ribs. 

“Mom wanted me to bring you dinner.”

Ninten took the ribs and shut the door in Minnie’s face. “Bringing me my food like I’m some dog? That’s it, that’s the last straw!” 

Ninten quickly ate the prime ribs, wiped his face on his bandanna and made his way to his bedroom window. Quietly opening it, he snuck out. As Ninten made the jump down his two story house, he landed face down. 

“Ooomph! Ugh…” Ninten sat up and cracked his jaw before he stood and walked down the street. He headed west, towards the zoo. There were a collection of animals there, everything from ducks to alligators to lynxes and even-

“Penguins,” Ninten questioned, suddenly in awe. 

Indeed there were a plethora of penguins in the new exhibit. They waddled, quacked and did other various penguin things. Ninten’s eyes widened and his confusion about why there were suddenly penguins was replaced with overwhelming excitement about there being penguins. He squealed like a little boy and ran over to the fence separating him and his soon to be friends. 

“Penguin, penguin, penguin,” he said, bouncing on his heels, trying to get a better look. 

Without thinking, Ninten climbed the fence and tumbled in the exhibit. The repercussions of being caught were in the small, distant, rational corner of his mind. A penguin approached him and Ninten reached his hand out, ready to pet it, to get his first touch of a penguin. Then, suddenly, something latched onto the back of Ninten’s shirt and lifted him up. Ninten looked back to see the smirking face of his dastardly neighbor, Wally. 

“Well, well, well...look who’s trespassing.”

Ninten squirmed in Wally’s grasp, kicking and flailing his fists. “Wally! Ya big dope! Let go of me!” 

“No way squirt! I got a hold a ya now I’m gonna take you back to your mom and make sure I never see you around my house again!”

Ninten kept squirming, limbs flailing until a foot connected with some part of Wally’s body. It was enough for him to drop Ninten, who promptly fled from the scene. He came to a dilemma as he approached his house’s front door though. He couldn’t just knock and expect his mom to welcome him back in with open arms. Ninten looked up. 

His window was closed, someone had shut it. He sighed. His mom must have already known that he’d snuck out. She was probably calling his dad at this moment to tell him that Ninten had snuck out. Deciding it was time to face the music, Ninten raised a hand to the door and knocked. 

Bump bump-a bump bump, bump bump! 

The door opened and to Ninten’s surprise it wasn’t his mom who had answered, it was Mimmie and Minnie. 

“It’s about time you got back!”

“Huh? Mimmie? Minnie? Where’s mom at?”

“She had to go into town to get some money from dad out of the ATM machine.”

“We thought we’d do you a favor and shut your window so she wouldn’t see you snuck out.” 

Ninten couldn’t help but smile. “You guys helped me...even though we were mad at each other?”

The twins hugged him. “You may be a big, dumb brother-”

“But you’re our big, dumb brother.” 

Ninten hugged them back and after a few minutes Mimmie and Minnie let go. 

“Plus,” Mimmie added. “I need some help. My dollie with the music box in it is acting weird again.”

“And I could almost swear that the lamp in your room was moving, Ninten!” 

Ninten rolled his eyes. Where did his sisters come up with this stuff? “Alright, alright, I’ll help ya out.” With that, he smirked and cracked his knuckles before running upstairs, his sisters closely following behind him.


End file.
